his wife did endorse obama in that campaign. politics are personal. jim, there's some concern by some that assuming that chuck hagel gets confirmed he will be a weaker secretary of defense within the cabinet, that policy will be run even more so out of the white house, out of the nsc because he has gone through this process, and doesn't have a strong political base himself within the administration. >> well, you know, that was the rap against william cohen. if you remember, a republican who served under the president -- democratic administration of president clinton. now, if people here in the building say, look, you know, chuck hagel would be fine for us, including military uniformed service members because they understand, as you just pointed out, that the white house is going to be pulling the strings, turning the screws no matter who is the secretary of defenses. republican or democrat. i do want to set the record straight a little bit on this debate over the surge. now, senator hagel in the confirmation hearing said that 1,200 americans were kill